There lived an ordinary girl named Kira. She went to school, liked to communicate with her friends, but her best friend, according to her, was her mother. In the evenings, Kira and her mother candidly talked about this and that.
By nightfall, both Kira and her mother, tired from the day, went to bed, like all people in the world. They wished each other ‘sleep tight’ and ‘sweet dreams.’ Kira watched her mother go and immediately fell asleep.
Kira was having a dream. She found herself on the seashore. There was no one around: no mother, father, or her girlfriends. It seemed somehow creepy. Kira decided to walk along the shore in search of some people. She walked for a long time. There was water on the left side, on the right, there were trees. Kira had to find adults, because she is only ten years old, otherwise she had no idea what to do? Kira was pretty tired when she realized that she had returned to the same place where she started her journey. Only she had come from the other side. She recognized the place because she saw her favorite headband forgotten on the sand. When she went off to look for people, the sea was to her left, and now, the sea is also to her left. Then a thought struck her. She was on an island!
She became scared. Kira began to cry. In tears and despair, she turned to God, ‘Please, God, help me! And in return I promise to do only good to people.’
Kira cried and begged. Begged and cried. Suddenly she heard a voice. It sounded in her head, ‘Do three good deeds, and I will help you.’
‘But I won’t be able to fulfill your request on the island, because there is not a single soul here.’ Kira shouted, sobbing.
‘Three good deeds, and I will help you,’ the same voice repeated.
Kira sat down on the sand in despair and began crying bitterly. She did not hear the seagulls screaming; the waves, time after time, rolling onto the shore; how the sand rustled, pleasantly and enchantingly. Unfortunately, Kira did not notice any of that. But soon Kira raised her head and looked sadly at the sea. No matter what, the sea was beautiful. She began to peer into the distance. It even seemed to her that she saw a ship in the distance. But unfortunately, it was only her imagination.
Suddenly she saw a bird flying from the sea. In its claws it was carrying a large fish. A thought flashed through her mind, ‘I wish I could get this fish. At least something to eat. The bird will catch another one.’ Kira suddenly jumped up hastily, looked around in search of some kind of tool and saw a stick, as if specially prepared for her. Kira grabbed the stick and, swinging with all her might, threw it at the bird.
She watched the stick, but, alas, it flew past, right in front of the bird's beak.
‘Oh, I’ve missed it,’ Kira exclaimed irritably.
Suddenly Kira saw how the bird froze on the spot in surprise, and turned over its head right in mid-flight. Having made several masterly pirouettes in the air, it was still able to turn its body so as not to fall onto the seashore. At the same time, it unclenched its claws and released the fish. The bird, frantically flapping its wings, gained the necessary height and flew away, expressing its indignation with a cry. And the fish got straight into Kira's hands. Once in her hands, the fish immediately wagged its tail. It probably thought that it had fallen into the water. Kira saw fear and confusion in fish’s eyes. She knew very well the feeling. She had completely forgotten that just a few minutes ago she had been desperate to get her hands on the fish to eat. But live fish were not associated with food in her head. Kira hurried to the sea to quickly release the fish into the water. Only when the fish disappeared into the water did the thought occur to her that she was hungry after all. However, Kira did not regret saving the fish at all.
‘Well, what of it that I don't eat fish? I'll be patient. I can look for something edible on the island. There must be some fruits or berries there,’ thought Kira.
She wandered around the island for a long time in search of food. She seemed to have walked it up and down, but she didn't find any berries or fruits. And in the meantime, it got dark. She needed to prepare a place to spend the night. Kira was so tired that she simply lay down on the sand on the seashore and despite her fear, she instantly fell asleep. She woke up when the sun was already high in the sky. In the first minute after waking up, Kira even had to squint from the bright sun. When she opened her eyes, for several seconds she couldn't understand where exactly she was and what she was doing there? Finally, her memory began to slowly come back to her. It dawned on her that just yesterday she had somehow ended up on an uninhabited island. And today she saw the same shore and, it seemed, the same hot and scorching sun. She remembered how she walked along the shore, how she saved the fish, how she remained hungry, how she wandered around the island in search of food. And, having already remembered the day before, she began to think about the present. And in the present, she wanted to eat even more, but she wanted to drink as never before. Kira remembered her mother's words, ‘You can swim, please, as much as you like, but make sure that you never swallow sea water.’ Kira was looking at the sea and thinking about her mother, her friends... The sun rose higher and higher, and she was very thirsty. Where can I get fresh water? I need some fresh water She remembered the spring in her village and how delicious the water was there. She remembered the rain from which she tried to hide in the shelter. Now she would gladly stand under the streams of the rain and drink pure ice water from the spring.
An unpleasant dryness in her mouth brought her thoughts back to the present, where there was a sea of water, but no fresh water to drink. With no hope to find fresh water, she, somehow instinctively, wandered towards the trees. Kira looked around warily. The island was completely unfamiliar to her, and therefore frightened her with its mystery. Suddenly she saw a large leaf in the shape of a saucer, which was lying on the ground. And there was water in it. Most likely, it was dew that had collected in such a miraculous way, as if especially for her. Kira bent down and stretched out her hands to the leaf, but suddenly she heard a sound that made her shudder. She sharply raised her head and saw a snake. The snake was looking at Kira and hissing threateningly. The snake seemed to be looking straight into Kira's eyes. A shudder ran through her body. It was obvious that the snake was not afraid of her at all and was not going to retreat. Kira thought that she could drive the snake away from the saving water, fortunately, there were many dry sticks lying around, but suddenly the thought occurred to her that, quite possibly, the snake also wanted to drink. Kira imagined that the snake, just like her, was suffering from thirst and quietly retreated, and the snake slowly slithered to the improvised bowl and began to soak up the life-giving moisture. Kira realized that not only people need fresh water to live, but animals as well. She silently watched that amazing scene. Having drunk, the snake crawled away, and Kira, remained standing for some time - delighted and confused at the same time.
However, thirst still bothered her. All thoughts were only about water. Having lost all hope of finding water on the island, she went back to the shore. With no strength left and in despair, she fell on the sand. Salty tears blurred her eyes. Even the tears were salty.
It seemed to her that that was the end of it. The end of her inglorious short life on Earth. She failed to do anything good and, most likely, would not do anything good at all. Kira looked towards the sea with sadness and sorrow. And… of all things, suddenly she saw a small boat washed up to the shore. Kira jumped up (unexpectedly, she became strong) and joyfully ran to the boat. In a heartbeat, she jumped into it, and as soon as she pulled on the oars to sail away from the shore, she saw an old man who had appeared out of the blue. He was standing right there and looking at Kira and the boat with such sadness, as, a few minutes ago, she was despairingly looking at the sea.
Kira was confused, ‘Where did you come from? The boat is so small that it can only hold one person. It can't hold two. What should we do?’
With her head down and barely holding back her tears, she climbed out of the boat and, without looking at the old man, pointed at the seat in the boat. The old man silently got into the boat and quietly sailed away from the shore. Kira sadly saw the old man off with a look of a doomed person.
At that moment she wanted to die. Suddenly she began to sob so loudly that it seemed that no living creature on the island could not miss the cry of the poor little girl. Onу could hear both pain and despair in her voice. How long she sobbed was hard to say. However, Kira was completely tired out because of crying and screaming and collapsed on the dry, hot sand by the very blue sea.
Suddenly she heard a voice in her head, ‘Get up and go!’
Kira raised her head, ‘Who is speaking? Am I not alone here?’
And again the voice said, ‘Get up and go!’
The voice sounded from nowhere, but Kira heard it clearly and distinctly. Getting up, Kira thought, ‘Where should I go?’
The same voice answered, ‘To the sea... to the sea...’
Kira thought, ‘This is the end for me.’ She looked with a farewell glance at the blue sky, then at the bright sun. They were the same as they had been when she was next to her mom and dad. Kira felt sad, because she really, really missed them now.
‘I love you, I love you very much,’ Kira whispered.
A voice, firm and insistent, distracted her from her sad thoughts, ‘Don't be afraid, go!’
And off Kira went. She went to the very edge of the water and stepped into the water. But what was that? It was as if her foot had stepped onto something cool and pleasantly soft. The other foot followed suit. The second foot stepped onto something rubbery. The surface of the water seemed to be covered with an invisible film, but even bending under the weight of Kira's body, it did not tear at all.
With caution, she began to walk step by step along the seemingly unreliable surface. Kira walked forward more and more confidently. A few minutes later, she was already walking along the surface of the water quite calmly, looking around and admiring the vastness of the sea surface. The sea was calm. Its surface sparkled in the sun's rays. Kira continued walking. She did not feel tired. Her body was light and even ethereal. It literally hovered above the water, barely touching its surface.
It was a fabulous feeling! Kira forgot about everything in the world - food, drink and her disastrous situation.
Suddenly this wonderful feeling was interrupted by the screech of a bird. Kira looked up and saw the bird from which she had taken the fish. For a moment Kira was frightened and then the support from under her feet disappeared, and she fell into the water. When the water closed over her head, fear seized her again. She began to flounder convulsively, trying to come to the surface.
And then someone's strong hands grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out of the water. When Kira came to, she saw that she was lying on the bottom of the boat that she had given to the old man. But the old man himself was not in the boat. Kira began to look around anxiously, looking for the old man. Had he drowned? Fear overcame her.
Suddenly, something or someone just collapsed to the bottom of the boat in front of her. Kira shuddered in surprise. She did not have time to get scared, when a bird immediately soared up from under her feet. It turned out to be a bird that she already met before. She saw a hole in the bottom of the boat, through which a small fountain of cold water rushed into the boat.
‘Damn bird!’ Kira screamed watching the bird flying away. She realized that the bird, swooping down on to the boat, pierced a hole in the bottom of it with its beak. But a minute later, Kira felt ashamed of the words she had said. After all, it was she, Kira, who took the fish from the bird. She had no clue for whom that fish was intended, perhaps even for her nestlings. And it means that yesterday they were hungry.
For the umpteenth time on this unfortunate day, tears flowed from her eyes. For the umpteenth time, Kira again thought that there was the end of it for her. Now, for sure, she would die! The boat would sink to the bottom and Kira would drown with it. Kira once again prayed, ‘Lord, if you do exist, please, help me!’
The water inevitably filled the boat, and Kira, shedding tears, begged God to save her. Suddenly she heard a familiar hissing sound. A familiar snake was lying on the oar of the boat.
‘Where on earth did you spring from?’ Kira was surprised. ‘The only thing missing here is you.’ Then, thinking twice, she said, ‘Go ahead, bite me. It would be better if I died from your bite than if I choked in cold water or if a shark attacked me.’
She shuddered at the thought. However, the snake, ignoring Kira, slithered to the bottom of the boat and plugged the hole, sticking its tail through it. Kira watched the snake in amazement. All she had to do was scoop the water out of the boat. The flicker of hope that flashed through her head gave her some strength, and she quickly began to scoop the water out of the boat with her palms. The water in the boat decreased very slowly though, but it did decrease. Kira tinkered around with the water for a long time. She was really tired. Perhaps if her mom and dad were there, she wouldn’t have to strain herself so much, mom and dad would have helped her. Now Kira was alone, and she had to do everything herself. In the end, there was practically no water left in the boat. The poor girl had no strength left either. Tired and unhappy, Kira sat down on the seat. The thought was spinning in her head, ‘So what next? There’s a boat and oars, but where should I row?’ Kira looked around. There was water around and nothing but water. And also, the scorching sun in the blue sky, without a single cloud, which Kira was no longer happy about. Fatigue and unbearable thirst did their job. Kira’s body went limp on its own. Losing consciousness, Kira again remembered her mother. She whispered, ‘Mom...’
Suddenly Kira heard her mother's voice, ‘Yes, pumpkin. Are you awake?! Well, it's time to get up. You can't be late for school. You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't wake you up.’
Kira opened her eyes and looked around her room, flooded with sunlight, with a quizzical expression on her face.
‘This is my room, is it true?! Am I saved?!’ Kira was stunned.
The shock that Kira had experienced was so strong that she could hardly believe that she was seeing her mother, her belongings, her favorite doll again...
‘What happened, pumpkin?! Did you have a bad dream?’ her mother asked with some anxiety.
Mother's voice finally brought Kira back to the real world. She finally realized that what had happened to her was in her dream. She sighed with relief. Joy literally engulfed every part of her body. Kira exclaimed, ‘Mom, my beloved, my dear. I love you so much! I love you more than life itself!’
Kira hugged and kissed her mom, kissed her lips, cheeks, eyes, hands…
‘Now…now. You're going to strangle me with your hugging!’ Mom laughed.
‘Mom, I want to tell you about my dream,’ Kira hurried to share her impressions.
Kira excitedly began to tell the story of what happened to her in her dream. Mom listened attentively, as she usually does. Having finished her story, Kira asked, ‘Would God have saved me if I hadn't woken up? After all, I didn't do the three good deeds that he asked me to do.’
Mom smiled and said tenderly, ‘Didn't he save you? You walked on water. Only Jesus Christ could walk like that.’
‘Who is Jesus Christ?’ Kira asked.
‘He is the son of God. We'll talk about him next time,’ Mom promised.
‘But then I fell into the water and almost drowned!’ Kira reminded of her misfortune.
‘But you didn't drown after all! Someone pulled you out of the water and into the boat, right?’ Mom objected.
‘Yes. It's strange, who could it have been!?’ Kira said mysteriously. ‘But then the boat started to fill with water and I almost ended up in the water again,’ Kira tried to object again.
‘But the boat didn't sink, and you didn't end up in the water a second time,’ Mom clarified. ‘The snake came to rescue. I think it was for a reason.’
‘That's another riddle,’ Kira said thoughtfully. ‘But still, I wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't woken up?’ Kira asked either herself, or Mom.
‘What your salvation would have been, only God knows,’ Mom sighed.
‘But why did God save me?’ Kira continued to look for an answer.
‘You yourself didn't notice how you did three good deeds,’ Mom said affectionately. ‘I'm proud of you, pumpkin!’
‘Mom, I don’t understand you,’ Kira was surprised.
‘Today it's time for us to go to bed. Tomorrow we'll talk again about your adventures in your dream and about your three good deeds, and thanks to those deeds God did not abandon you in difficult moments of your life. The main thing is to always remain kind no matter what. When you do good, do not expect gratitude. Life itself will return the favor. It will not necessarily be money. Your friends, acquaintances and just strangers will come to your aid in difficult moments of your life, it is not money that is important, but love, friendship and kindness,’ Mom said affectionately.
‘Like God in my dream?’ Kira seemed to understand something very important concerning her life.
‘Yes. God is kind to everyone; He loves everyone and helps everyone. Only he does it not directly, but through people, through various life situations. We will also talk about it next time,’ Mom assured Kira. Remember, my dear child: good people do not always do good deeds, they just always do what they think is right.’
Mom kissed her daughter on her warm forehead and wished her "Good night".
Tasks:
1. If Kira had not woken up, what would God do next to save Kira?
2. How do you understand the words: "Good people do not always do good deeds, they just always do what they think is right."
By nightfall, both Kira and her mother, tired from the day, went to bed, like all people in the world. They wished each other ‘sleep tight’ and ‘sweet dreams.’ Kira watched her mother go and immediately fell asleep.
Kira was having a dream. She found herself on the seashore. There was no one around: no mother, father, or her girlfriends. It seemed somehow creepy. Kira decided to walk along the shore in search of some people. She walked for a long time. There was water on the left side, on the right, there were trees. Kira had to find adults, because she is only ten years old, otherwise she had no idea what to do? Kira was pretty tired when she realized that she had returned to the same place where she started her journey. Only she had come from the other side. She recognized the place because she saw her favorite headband forgotten on the sand. When she went off to look for people, the sea was to her left, and now, the sea is also to her left. Then a thought struck her. She was on an island!
She became scared. Kira began to cry. In tears and despair, she turned to God, ‘Please, God, help me! And in return I promise to do only good to people.’
Kira cried and begged. Begged and cried. Suddenly she heard a voice. It sounded in her head, ‘Do three good deeds, and I will help you.’
‘But I won’t be able to fulfill your request on the island, because there is not a single soul here.’ Kira shouted, sobbing.
‘Three good deeds, and I will help you,’ the same voice repeated.
Kira sat down on the sand in despair and began crying bitterly. She did not hear the seagulls screaming; the waves, time after time, rolling onto the shore; how the sand rustled, pleasantly and enchantingly. Unfortunately, Kira did not notice any of that. But soon Kira raised her head and looked sadly at the sea. No matter what, the sea was beautiful. She began to peer into the distance. It even seemed to her that she saw a ship in the distance. But unfortunately, it was only her imagination.
Suddenly she saw a bird flying from the sea. In its claws it was carrying a large fish. A thought flashed through her mind, ‘I wish I could get this fish. At least something to eat. The bird will catch another one.’ Kira suddenly jumped up hastily, looked around in search of some kind of tool and saw a stick, as if specially prepared for her. Kira grabbed the stick and, swinging with all her might, threw it at the bird.
She watched the stick, but, alas, it flew past, right in front of the bird's beak.
‘Oh, I’ve missed it,’ Kira exclaimed irritably.
Suddenly Kira saw how the bird froze on the spot in surprise, and turned over its head right in mid-flight. Having made several masterly pirouettes in the air, it was still able to turn its body so as not to fall onto the seashore. At the same time, it unclenched its claws and released the fish. The bird, frantically flapping its wings, gained the necessary height and flew away, expressing its indignation with a cry. And the fish got straight into Kira's hands. Once in her hands, the fish immediately wagged its tail. It probably thought that it had fallen into the water. Kira saw fear and confusion in fish’s eyes. She knew very well the feeling. She had completely forgotten that just a few minutes ago she had been desperate to get her hands on the fish to eat. But live fish were not associated with food in her head. Kira hurried to the sea to quickly release the fish into the water. Only when the fish disappeared into the water did the thought occur to her that she was hungry after all. However, Kira did not regret saving the fish at all.
‘Well, what of it that I don't eat fish? I'll be patient. I can look for something edible on the island. There must be some fruits or berries there,’ thought Kira.
She wandered around the island for a long time in search of food. She seemed to have walked it up and down, but she didn't find any berries or fruits. And in the meantime, it got dark. She needed to prepare a place to spend the night. Kira was so tired that she simply lay down on the sand on the seashore and despite her fear, she instantly fell asleep. She woke up when the sun was already high in the sky. In the first minute after waking up, Kira even had to squint from the bright sun. When she opened her eyes, for several seconds she couldn't understand where exactly she was and what she was doing there? Finally, her memory began to slowly come back to her. It dawned on her that just yesterday she had somehow ended up on an uninhabited island. And today she saw the same shore and, it seemed, the same hot and scorching sun. She remembered how she walked along the shore, how she saved the fish, how she remained hungry, how she wandered around the island in search of food. And, having already remembered the day before, she began to think about the present. And in the present, she wanted to eat even more, but she wanted to drink as never before. Kira remembered her mother's words, ‘You can swim, please, as much as you like, but make sure that you never swallow sea water.’ Kira was looking at the sea and thinking about her mother, her friends... The sun rose higher and higher, and she was very thirsty. Where can I get fresh water? I need some fresh water She remembered the spring in her village and how delicious the water was there. She remembered the rain from which she tried to hide in the shelter. Now she would gladly stand under the streams of the rain and drink pure ice water from the spring.
An unpleasant dryness in her mouth brought her thoughts back to the present, where there was a sea of water, but no fresh water to drink. With no hope to find fresh water, she, somehow instinctively, wandered towards the trees. Kira looked around warily. The island was completely unfamiliar to her, and therefore frightened her with its mystery. Suddenly she saw a large leaf in the shape of a saucer, which was lying on the ground. And there was water in it. Most likely, it was dew that had collected in such a miraculous way, as if especially for her. Kira bent down and stretched out her hands to the leaf, but suddenly she heard a sound that made her shudder. She sharply raised her head and saw a snake. The snake was looking at Kira and hissing threateningly. The snake seemed to be looking straight into Kira's eyes. A shudder ran through her body. It was obvious that the snake was not afraid of her at all and was not going to retreat. Kira thought that she could drive the snake away from the saving water, fortunately, there were many dry sticks lying around, but suddenly the thought occurred to her that, quite possibly, the snake also wanted to drink. Kira imagined that the snake, just like her, was suffering from thirst and quietly retreated, and the snake slowly slithered to the improvised bowl and began to soak up the life-giving moisture. Kira realized that not only people need fresh water to live, but animals as well. She silently watched that amazing scene. Having drunk, the snake crawled away, and Kira, remained standing for some time - delighted and confused at the same time.
However, thirst still bothered her. All thoughts were only about water. Having lost all hope of finding water on the island, she went back to the shore. With no strength left and in despair, she fell on the sand. Salty tears blurred her eyes. Even the tears were salty.
It seemed to her that that was the end of it. The end of her inglorious short life on Earth. She failed to do anything good and, most likely, would not do anything good at all. Kira looked towards the sea with sadness and sorrow. And… of all things, suddenly she saw a small boat washed up to the shore. Kira jumped up (unexpectedly, she became strong) and joyfully ran to the boat. In a heartbeat, she jumped into it, and as soon as she pulled on the oars to sail away from the shore, she saw an old man who had appeared out of the blue. He was standing right there and looking at Kira and the boat with such sadness, as, a few minutes ago, she was despairingly looking at the sea.
Kira was confused, ‘Where did you come from? The boat is so small that it can only hold one person. It can't hold two. What should we do?’
With her head down and barely holding back her tears, she climbed out of the boat and, without looking at the old man, pointed at the seat in the boat. The old man silently got into the boat and quietly sailed away from the shore. Kira sadly saw the old man off with a look of a doomed person.
At that moment she wanted to die. Suddenly she began to sob so loudly that it seemed that no living creature on the island could not miss the cry of the poor little girl. Onу could hear both pain and despair in her voice. How long she sobbed was hard to say. However, Kira was completely tired out because of crying and screaming and collapsed on the dry, hot sand by the very blue sea.
Suddenly she heard a voice in her head, ‘Get up and go!’
Kira raised her head, ‘Who is speaking? Am I not alone here?’
And again the voice said, ‘Get up and go!’
The voice sounded from nowhere, but Kira heard it clearly and distinctly. Getting up, Kira thought, ‘Where should I go?’
The same voice answered, ‘To the sea... to the sea...’
Kira thought, ‘This is the end for me.’ She looked with a farewell glance at the blue sky, then at the bright sun. They were the same as they had been when she was next to her mom and dad. Kira felt sad, because she really, really missed them now.
‘I love you, I love you very much,’ Kira whispered.
A voice, firm and insistent, distracted her from her sad thoughts, ‘Don't be afraid, go!’
And off Kira went. She went to the very edge of the water and stepped into the water. But what was that? It was as if her foot had stepped onto something cool and pleasantly soft. The other foot followed suit. The second foot stepped onto something rubbery. The surface of the water seemed to be covered with an invisible film, but even bending under the weight of Kira's body, it did not tear at all.
With caution, she began to walk step by step along the seemingly unreliable surface. Kira walked forward more and more confidently. A few minutes later, she was already walking along the surface of the water quite calmly, looking around and admiring the vastness of the sea surface. The sea was calm. Its surface sparkled in the sun's rays. Kira continued walking. She did not feel tired. Her body was light and even ethereal. It literally hovered above the water, barely touching its surface.
It was a fabulous feeling! Kira forgot about everything in the world - food, drink and her disastrous situation.
Suddenly this wonderful feeling was interrupted by the screech of a bird. Kira looked up and saw the bird from which she had taken the fish. For a moment Kira was frightened and then the support from under her feet disappeared, and she fell into the water. When the water closed over her head, fear seized her again. She began to flounder convulsively, trying to come to the surface.
And then someone's strong hands grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out of the water. When Kira came to, she saw that she was lying on the bottom of the boat that she had given to the old man. But the old man himself was not in the boat. Kira began to look around anxiously, looking for the old man. Had he drowned? Fear overcame her.
Suddenly, something or someone just collapsed to the bottom of the boat in front of her. Kira shuddered in surprise. She did not have time to get scared, when a bird immediately soared up from under her feet. It turned out to be a bird that she already met before. She saw a hole in the bottom of the boat, through which a small fountain of cold water rushed into the boat.
‘Damn bird!’ Kira screamed watching the bird flying away. She realized that the bird, swooping down on to the boat, pierced a hole in the bottom of it with its beak. But a minute later, Kira felt ashamed of the words she had said. After all, it was she, Kira, who took the fish from the bird. She had no clue for whom that fish was intended, perhaps even for her nestlings. And it means that yesterday they were hungry.
For the umpteenth time on this unfortunate day, tears flowed from her eyes. For the umpteenth time, Kira again thought that there was the end of it for her. Now, for sure, she would die! The boat would sink to the bottom and Kira would drown with it. Kira once again prayed, ‘Lord, if you do exist, please, help me!’
The water inevitably filled the boat, and Kira, shedding tears, begged God to save her. Suddenly she heard a familiar hissing sound. A familiar snake was lying on the oar of the boat.
‘Where on earth did you spring from?’ Kira was surprised. ‘The only thing missing here is you.’ Then, thinking twice, she said, ‘Go ahead, bite me. It would be better if I died from your bite than if I choked in cold water or if a shark attacked me.’
She shuddered at the thought. However, the snake, ignoring Kira, slithered to the bottom of the boat and plugged the hole, sticking its tail through it. Kira watched the snake in amazement. All she had to do was scoop the water out of the boat. The flicker of hope that flashed through her head gave her some strength, and she quickly began to scoop the water out of the boat with her palms. The water in the boat decreased very slowly though, but it did decrease. Kira tinkered around with the water for a long time. She was really tired. Perhaps if her mom and dad were there, she wouldn’t have to strain herself so much, mom and dad would have helped her. Now Kira was alone, and she had to do everything herself. In the end, there was practically no water left in the boat. The poor girl had no strength left either. Tired and unhappy, Kira sat down on the seat. The thought was spinning in her head, ‘So what next? There’s a boat and oars, but where should I row?’ Kira looked around. There was water around and nothing but water. And also, the scorching sun in the blue sky, without a single cloud, which Kira was no longer happy about. Fatigue and unbearable thirst did their job. Kira’s body went limp on its own. Losing consciousness, Kira again remembered her mother. She whispered, ‘Mom...’
Suddenly Kira heard her mother's voice, ‘Yes, pumpkin. Are you awake?! Well, it's time to get up. You can't be late for school. You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't wake you up.’
Kira opened her eyes and looked around her room, flooded with sunlight, with a quizzical expression on her face.
‘This is my room, is it true?! Am I saved?!’ Kira was stunned.
The shock that Kira had experienced was so strong that she could hardly believe that she was seeing her mother, her belongings, her favorite doll again...
‘What happened, pumpkin?! Did you have a bad dream?’ her mother asked with some anxiety.
Mother's voice finally brought Kira back to the real world. She finally realized that what had happened to her was in her dream. She sighed with relief. Joy literally engulfed every part of her body. Kira exclaimed, ‘Mom, my beloved, my dear. I love you so much! I love you more than life itself!’
Kira hugged and kissed her mom, kissed her lips, cheeks, eyes, hands…
‘Now…now. You're going to strangle me with your hugging!’ Mom laughed.
‘Mom, I want to tell you about my dream,’ Kira hurried to share her impressions.
Kira excitedly began to tell the story of what happened to her in her dream. Mom listened attentively, as she usually does. Having finished her story, Kira asked, ‘Would God have saved me if I hadn't woken up? After all, I didn't do the three good deeds that he asked me to do.’
Mom smiled and said tenderly, ‘Didn't he save you? You walked on water. Only Jesus Christ could walk like that.’
‘Who is Jesus Christ?’ Kira asked.
‘He is the son of God. We'll talk about him next time,’ Mom promised.
‘But then I fell into the water and almost drowned!’ Kira reminded of her misfortune.
‘But you didn't drown after all! Someone pulled you out of the water and into the boat, right?’ Mom objected.
‘Yes. It's strange, who could it have been!?’ Kira said mysteriously. ‘But then the boat started to fill with water and I almost ended up in the water again,’ Kira tried to object again.
‘But the boat didn't sink, and you didn't end up in the water a second time,’ Mom clarified. ‘The snake came to rescue. I think it was for a reason.’
‘That's another riddle,’ Kira said thoughtfully. ‘But still, I wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't woken up?’ Kira asked either herself, or Mom.
‘What your salvation would have been, only God knows,’ Mom sighed.
‘But why did God save me?’ Kira continued to look for an answer.
‘You yourself didn't notice how you did three good deeds,’ Mom said affectionately. ‘I'm proud of you, pumpkin!’
‘Mom, I don’t understand you,’ Kira was surprised.
‘Today it's time for us to go to bed. Tomorrow we'll talk again about your adventures in your dream and about your three good deeds, and thanks to those deeds God did not abandon you in difficult moments of your life. The main thing is to always remain kind no matter what. When you do good, do not expect gratitude. Life itself will return the favor. It will not necessarily be money. Your friends, acquaintances and just strangers will come to your aid in difficult moments of your life, it is not money that is important, but love, friendship and kindness,’ Mom said affectionately.
‘Like God in my dream?’ Kira seemed to understand something very important concerning her life.
‘Yes. God is kind to everyone; He loves everyone and helps everyone. Only he does it not directly, but through people, through various life situations. We will also talk about it next time,’ Mom assured Kira. Remember, my dear child: good people do not always do good deeds, they just always do what they think is right.’
Mom kissed her daughter on her warm forehead and wished her "Good night".
Tasks:
1. If Kira had not woken up, what would God do next to save Kira?
2. How do you understand the words: "Good people do not always do good deeds, they just always do what they think is right."